Pirates made to pay as Waves cracks down on cracks

A number of pro studios have been caught out using cracked versions of Waves plug-ins by none other than the legendary plug-in producers themselves.

Shares

A number of professional studios have been caught out using unauthorised – ie, cracked – versions of Waves plug-ins by none other than the legendary plug-in producers themselves.

The full story reported on Pro Sound News Europe details how Waves sent out teams of investigators earlier this year to secretly gather video evidence in support of claims that certain pro facilities were using dodgy copies of Waves gear. Unwitting engineers and studio owners were captured on film talking about – and even using – the plugs, later resulting in rather stern letters from Waves informing the studios that they intended to prosecute unless they settled out of court "for a sum several times in excess of the list price of the item concerned".

So far, studios in both the US and UK have been caught red-handed in this manner, including "six well-known UK studios" and a "prominent education establishment". Clearly, these places should know better, and obviously aren't short of a bob or two either, so they're no doubt rather red-faced about it all. It's said that none of the cases have yet come to court, so we can only assume they've dipped into their bulging pockets to cough up the settlement amount.

CM is right behind Waves on this, and we hope to bring you a more in-depth update on the matter in a future issue of the magazine, not to mention a review of their all-new API Collection EQ/compression bundle.